WOYWW...

Well folks it's as if I've never been away....except I have had my batteries recharged and I feel the break really did me good.  I'm sure life is the same for others in that we all have highs and lows but just sometimes I need to shut the door and chill out to cope with the lows and make the very best of the highs when they arrive.

You will see from my last post that the family excitement is growing well  :-)  I am blessed with just the best family in the world and can say that each one of them goes out in the world and makes the world a better place for them being in it so can't wait for the extra little family members to arrive.

Funday Monday was another brilliant day of laughter, chat, cuppas and, as always, a chocolate or two [thanks T].  Twiglet brought down her Cuttlebug with the new Tim's Tattered flower and leaf dies and she provided each of us with a wonderful ceramic button [thanks Jo].  We each chose fabrics to suit the colours of our buttons and cut flowers out using the new toy.  A bit of heating with the embellishing heater and a few stitches here and there and ta da here is the brooch I made.

I have spread out the knitted squares I have made so far for you to see so you know I did manage to do a few while away last week but I'm sorry to say Jo that I didn't manage to knit while in the car very successfully....I dropped my needles once or twice then had to put it away  cos it made me travel sick :-(

Nearly 15 now so that's 7 more since last week  :-)

I've been busy doing a few sewing jobs this morning but have still managed a batch of yummy wholemeal rolls for lunch.....feel free to cut one in half and fill it with what ever you choose.....they smell wonderful.

I usually like to share a little of my garden with you all and this week it's lavender.  We have lots of bushes around the garden and it's really looking and smelling wonderful at the mo.....even the little bee seems to be enjoying it  :-)

And how's about this for honeysuckle?  It's really beautiful and smells divine especially with a drop of rain on it.  :-)

Hope you all have a really fab week and can enjoy a few sunny days.  Please pop over to Julia's blog and join in the WOYWW fun.

My book ends....

I have promised to keep you all up to date with the developments of my expected Grandchildren.  Last night our house was filled with love and laughter.  We had all our family here for a catch up.  We aim to do this regularly and I really love our special times together.  Of course, as you can all imagine, the baby bumps are growing fast and furious now and I think it was a shock to both our daughters to see just how much bigger M is with her twins than A is with just one.  Thankfully they are both keeping really well at the mo even though the heat is a little draining of the energy.  Me, being me, just had to request a photo of the bumps [and thank you girls for allowing your Mum's madness] and thought you would all like to share it  :-) :-) :-)

How's this for a pair of book ends?

M with the twins to the left [little boy at the top and little girl in pole position for delivery :-) ] and A with a single baby boy to the right  :-)  I've seen smaller bumps than M's at 8 months.  From the front M's bump is much wider than A's too....and hey they are both only 25 weeks pregnant so have a way to go yet!! 
M will be taking her twins to a Take That concert tonight.....hope they have a lovely time  :-)

Ooooooooer I'm sooooooooooooo excited  :-)  Really can't wait to meet our new family members and fill our sitting room with even more love and laughter.

A few days away.....

As you will know I have had a few days away with my darling hubby in Aberavon in South Wales to recharge our batteries.

We stayed in the Aberavon Beach Hotel and I have to say if I had seen it from the outside before booking  I might not have booked cos it looked a bit like Colditz....Old and rather shabby..... but inside it was just perfect.  The staff couldn't have been more helpful, the service was faultless and the decor was really lovely.....there was even a spare single bed in our room so we could have taken Twiglet with us  :-)

We were surrounded by lovely beaches and scenery to give us plenty of fresh air and chill out time.

We visited Saint Fagins National History Museum with all it's quaint little houses, shops and stores.  It was a lot of walking but well worth the trip.  Each little house had a lit open fire and really tiny little windows and oh how it made me appreciate modern electric lights...the tiny rooms all seemed so dark and gloomy to have spent their days in.

The Tailor and outfitters was just fab with all it's sewing machines and fabrics etc.  How I would have loved to rummage through the fabrics and all the old clothes.

Inside the store was filled with many items that didn't seem so very long ago that we could see in the shops and even remembered buying many of the items.  We saw many young children chuckling at the outside toilet and the old school etc.

Thursday evening  we went to watch a 20 20 cricket match in Cardiff.....thankfully it stayed dry but it was a really cold evening.  I really enjoy watching cricket so this was a real treat for us both regardless of the temperature.

Here are just a few of the wonderful owls we saw on our travels......especially for you Twiglet.

Hope you have enjoyed my show and tell of our wonderful break away.  I have got a few aches and pains from all the walking but really feel to have blown away the cobwebs.  I now hope to start feeling rather more creative in the days to come.  Thanks for dropping in.

WOYWW....

Happy Wednesday everyone.  Another wonderful link up day with lots of other crafters.  

It's been another really busy week for me so far....I have either taken in or let out 6 pair of trousers this week as well as many many other jobs....It appears there are many men managing to shrink their trousers in the wash! [think it's called middle age spread but I wouldn't dream of saying that to them  :-) ].  This is one of my favourite jobs to do so I have really enjoyed my work so far this week.

Funday Monday was another brilliant day of chatter, giggles and of course chocolate [thanks T].  I sat knitting cos as yet my mojo is still AWOL.  I am hoping to recharge my batteries in Aberavon, South Wales for a few days so by next Wednesday you might see something a little more creative from me.  I really hope they have a good supply of mojos in South Wales so I come back refreshed.

On my desk today are the latest knitting projects I have on the go.

This is the latest little knitted hoody for one of the expected baby boys.  I love this random wool but I have to use two balls at the same time to knit matching sleeves and fronts because the repeat of colours are so big [what you can see here is a finished back and a nearly finished hood].  It's well worth the effort though cos the finished results are really lovely....I have already knit one in pink/blue and one in a turquoise random wool [and of course the white one I knit for one of my customers].

This is the pile of squares I have knit so far for the latest baby blanket.....I plan to take this away with me so by next week there may be lots more made....that is when I'm not swimming or just relaxing in the jacuzzi [did I mention I was going away for a couple of days?]

The last pic is for those who called last week and missed to get one of the yummy strawberries ....this is the third bowl full we have picked already and there are still more to ripen so please help yourselves.

Finally, before you pop over to Julia's to link up, I would like to say thanks for dropping in on me this week...I will do my best to do a return visit but don't forget I am having a few days away [how could you forget?].  I'm sure you will all forgive me cos my few days away are really badly needed....I'm physically, emotionally and mentally tired.  Have a great week.

Just like lizards....

It's a beautiful sunny morning, so far, over here at Sewing by Annie's and I have just snapped this quick picture of our 3 dogs all lined up against the white painted shed soaking up the sun's rays.  They obviously think they are lizards  :-)  The two dark ones often sit here to warm up but this morning Skye has joined them and it amazed me that all 3 sat happily for me to walk up to them to snap the pic....they would normally have run over to greet me.

It's another Funday Monday here today so I'm off to clear the sewing jobs that are waiting for me on my 'to do' rail before the fun starts.  Have a great day and, if you're free, pop over here and join in the fun  :-)

Brilliant quote for life....

Last night Twiglet sent me this quote and I love it so much that I thought I would share it with you....

"There comes a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it, and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard you forget the bad, and focus solely on the good. after all, life is too short to be anything but happy."

I don't know where she got it from or who wrote it but I have added it to my side bar where I can see it and read it often.  Thanks Sis.

It's prom time....

My sewing room seems full of gorgeous dresses so I thought I would share a few with you.....

This one has a beaded bodice and the skirt is so beautifully floaty.  I really love the colours in this one

This one is the most gorgeous blue in colour and has beaded detail in the front of the bodice.

This one is a wonderful bright red with halter neck and beautiful beading on the front.

Last but by no means least is this gorgeous wedding dress that had it's final fitting yesterday....isn't it gorgeous?

I really love the way the prom dresses transform a school girl to a stunning young lady.  They seem to grow up just in the minutes it takes them to put on their posh frocks and I love being able to make them fit to perfection so they leave here with huge grins on their faces.

WOYWW.....

Another week has passed and we are already 2 weeks into the third year of WOYWW madness.  Where would we be without it folks?  I, for one, would miss it.

So?  What am I up to this week?....My mojo has gone on holiday and when that happens I knit  :-)

My daughter's have been given lists of what they have to take into hospital with them and to be honest I think they will feel like they are moving in with all they have to take....especially M who has to pack for two babies. The hospital doesn't even provide a gown for the mum's to labour in these days!.....hospital cut backs gone mad I say.

I have finished knitting this cute little blue cardy and matching hat.  It's a tiny baby size and is one for one of the expected twins.

Do you remember this little wrap round cardy I knit with that fab wool my blogging friend Jo bought me in Germany?

Well,  I have now knit a matching hat  :-)

I really love this wool.

I now have to knit little hats to match another couple of cardies before I tackle my next project.  These are requested on the list to take in and are especially needed with tiny or early babies.

I shall be up under this gorgeous dress today getting hot and steamy.  I have already finished the alterations on it and it is being collected later today to be ready for a Wedding on Saturday....It's a really pretty dress and the bride looks stunning in it.

The last picture is one of the latest produce to come out of our garden....help yourselves to a strawberry....they are really yummy.

That's all from me for this week.  I am really hoping my mojo returns very soon so I can be more creative in my spare time.  Do pop over to Julia's blog now and join in the WOYWW fun.  Have a great week folks.

Another brilliant weekend....

It was a fun day Saturday minding our gorgeous granddaughters.  Here are a couple of quick snaps to share with you....

Our entertainer  :-)

Little L who goes everywhere on her knees....If only she realised just how much quicker she would go on her feet  :-)

On Sunday night Twiglet, our daughter M and her other half came with my hubby and I to see Sir Elton John at the Shrewsbury town football ground....wahooooooo

We all had tea at M's before we went and bless her she made us all Elton biscuits....what a giggle.

Here's M and B all dressed up in their waterproofs because it was drizzling and promised to be a wet evening .......thankfully the weather man got it wrong because the rain stopped before Elton came on stage.

A great night was had by all.  Sorry no pics to share of Elton as we were too far from the stage to see him in detail but I will say he was shorter than I imagined but did put on a great show.

Good news, bad news....

First the good news.....

 These are my, now finished, latest batch of brooches.  They are all made from voile and all have a matching / contrasting button or two in the middle.I really love these and just know they would be really perfect on a summer outfit.  If you see one you like or would like one in different colours I would be happy to make / design a special one for you.  I shall be uploading them into the shop soon but til then feel free to leave me a comment here if you are interested in buying one.  They are £4.50 each plus postage.

Now the bad / sad news......

The triffid is under attack.....If you enlarge these two pics you will see lots of very hungry caterpillars.  They are the caterpillars of the white cabbage butterfly and obviously find my triffid very tasty.  I did try to pick them off when tiny but over night they seem to have munched their way through most of the leaves on this, over 6 foot, plant!  Alas I think we have no option but to dispose of the whole plant before the hungry little critters take over the whole garden.

Finally I would just like to say thanks to Jo and Suz for dropping in for coffee this morning.  It was really lovely to see you both.

WOYWW.....

What a wonderful week of celebrations last week was.  I could picture parcels going from house to house and also from country to country.  What wonderful business we were for the postal service  :-)

 This was the gift I sent to Kate.  I made her a desk tidy with one of my poppy pictures printed onto the fabric in the base and the WOYWW acronym accross the bottom so it blended into the leaves.

Kate very kindly sent me this pretty card to say thank you.  What a lovely way to link up new friends Julia.

This was the lovely gift I received from Kezzy.  It is now hanging very proudly in my sewing room.

[And I would have sent her a thank you card if only she had remembered to put her name and address on the parcel!  :-)  ].

Thank you so much Kezzy.

On my desk today are the brooches that I am in the process of making to restock the blog shop.  All our brooches that we had in the shop have now gone to Tina's shop up at Montgomery so Twiglet and I are now designing the new brooches to go in our shop.  Hope you like how these are going.....I prepared the petals / leaves on our Funday Monday and have now sorted out buttons for the centres and when I have time I will sew them together.

The only other thing I have on my desk today are curtains to shorten!......yuck yuck yuck.
It's not that I don't like these curtains...they are actually very nicely made curtains and I rather like the fabric.
It's just that they are heavy and there is a lot of fabric to heave around while I shorten them.......STOP moaning Annie and just get on with it!!!

Well girls thats it from me for today.  I really hope you have something more exciting than curtains needing shortening to show and tell on your desk today.  I will be around to visit all I can, when I can find a minute spare.  Pop over to Julia's blog and join in the WOYWW fun and I will hope to see you again soon.

Don't forget to take time out to smell the roses...

We have had a really special weekend.  

Saturday afternoon / evening was spent babysitting our gorgeous granddaughters.  They really are a delight to care for.  We had lots of fun and laughter.  I cooked them tea which they tucked into with no fuss or bother.  We bathed them and had lots of fun with bubbles and their bath toys and then we read stories and tucked both down in bed.  It's so lovely to see what a wonderful job our daughter and her hubby are doing of bringing them up....I'm such a proud mummy and nanny.

Sunday was a day for enjoying our little bit of heaven down the bottom of our garden.  We hoovered and cleaned out our bird hide [yes, we need a couple of extension leads to reach the bottom of our garden with a hoover!]....lots of spiders had moved in during the winter and to be honest I can't relax down there with so many little critters watching me.  We then set to and cleared out a lot of the overgrown weeds from the 'back to nature' bit......even nature needs a bit of help once or twice a year.  We enjoyed our morning coffee and lunch in the bird hide watching 2 squirrels play, an adult robin feeding it's baby, a black cap, a chiffchaff and more baby tits, of all sorts, than I could count......maybe now you can see why I call it our little bit of heaven?

I've snapped a few pics to share with you.

Triffid update.....It's now over 6 foot tall and has pretty yellow flowers on the top.  The top bends over towards the sun and tends to follow the sun around the sky during the day  :-)  Skye reluctantly posed in from of it for you to give it a bit of scale  :-)

The flowers on the top....they seem to only last a day or so then drop off.

This is a little of our back to nature bit now we have cleared out some of the weeds.  It all has a canopy of hazel nut trees and is such a wonderful place to sit and enjoy nature at it's best.

The veg garden is looking pretty good and everything seems to have benefited from the drop of rain of late.

And finally just a bit of colour I snapped around the garden.  I love the vivid blue of this geranium.

 

Finally....don't forget to smell the roses.  These are just two of the lovely roses around our garden and I thought I'd share them with you.  Enjoy your week but remember to take time out to enjoy the magic that's all around you.

Blog Update

Having seen Mrs A's comment below I thought you might like to see another unseen area of my garden.

This is the stone circle that we will be dancing around naked on mid summer's eve  :-)

I've been tagged.....

It's been ages since I've been tagged, so thanks Tracey.  I'm always up for a challenge  :-)

To participate, you must abide by the following rules:

Rule 1 - No Tag-Backs (you can't tag me back)

Rule 2 - You must tag a further 8 bloggers

Rule 3 - You must answer the questions below

Rule 4 - You must have a link back to the people who tagged you

So here goes....

I have to answer these questions 

1.If you could be any historical or current character who would you be?.....

Florence Nightingale....I'm sure she saw lots of changes in nursing during her life

2.Name an interesting fact about yourself...........

I'm quite psychic...I often know things are going to happen before they do and have correctly predicted the sex of many babies before they were known.

3.If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?.......

I would have liked to have been more confident as I was growing up.

4.Which character traits annoy you?........

Bullies....and they don't have to be school age!

5.Name one thing that you would change in yourself?.........

My weight.  I'm trying to change it but it's not easy.

6.What do you consider your biggest achievement?..........

That would have to be being a good mum to my three children and being a part time mum to all the very many children I child minded while my family were growing up.

Now, who to tag?????

1. Twiglet... of course 
2. Karen
3. Crafty Linby
4. Kaz
5. Tina
6. Di
7. Gez
8. Suz

Consider yourself tagged girls.....now go and get your thinking caps on  :-)

My WOYWW PIF gift.....

This morning my postman brought my WOYWW PIF parcel from Kezzy.

As you can see it was beautifully wrapped and decorated with pretty flowers.

Inside was a real treasure.  It's so pretty Kezzy....I love it and I had the perfect place just waiting to hang it.  Thank you so much.

WOYWW....

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to one and all,

Happy Birthday to you,

It's 2 years today since Julia had the brainwave of linking up us crafters by getting us to show and tell each week.  I've seen desks, floor spaces, settees and tables full of wonderful crafting stash.  I've 'met' the most amazing artists, card makers, fellow fabric crafters, creative writers....in fact just about everything that could be classed as a craft.  And the very best bit of all is that, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I have made some really special friends.

So it's a huge Thank you  to Julia and here's to many more wonderful Wednesdays together.

Cheers to one and all.

Now for my WOYWW  I'm just posting a couple of quick snaps of what is happening in my world today.

I've bought large double sheets and am making cot / moses basket sheets for the up and coming babies with them.  They are brushed cotton and will make lovely cosy baby wraps....notice 2 lots of blue and one lot of pink  :-)  Plus I have some table clothing [turquoise with colourful flowers on] to make a couple of covers for the patio tables.

Here is a quick snap of our two little treasures who were trialling the new push chair....it's just perfect....they loved it and it's so easy to push.  They popped to see us for an hour while their mummy and daddy were visiting their new baby cousin in hospital.  Our son in law's brother has become the very proud new dad of a gorgeous baby boy.........

I knew you would all like to see the first snap of baby Jack.  He was born on 29th May weighing 7lb 9 oz.  Both mum and baby are now home and doing well.  Little P and L have now seen their new baby cousin and think he's really cute  :-)



Now girls it's time to pop over to link yourselves on Julia's blog and hopefully you will all be joining in the Birthday celebrations with the pass if forward gifts.

Don't forget to check out the links on my last post to grab yourselves a bargain but you will have to be quick cos the auction will be ending soon.